Louise Hogan
Irish Independent
Television stars threw their weight behind a worldwide campaign to help improve the conditions of young girls in a bid to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
MTV presenter Laura Whitmore and RTE's Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh (pictured) revealed the number of child brides and the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) were key issues to be addressed.
About 140 million girls have undergone FGM and each year two million are subjected to it, according to figures gathered as part of the children's charity Plan Ireland's 'Because I am a Girl' campaign.
"We can't presume with all the influx of Africans coming to live in Europe . . . it is very new to us, we can't presume that FGM isn't carried out here," Blathnaid said yesterday at the launch at Dublin's Mansion House.